10 reasons why Arcade Fire at British Summer Time could be the concert of the summer

Arcade Fire say an emotional farewell to London last night (Picture: Getty Images)

In balmy summer conditions, Arcade Fire said an emotional farewell to the European leg of their Reflektor tour, playing what is likely to be their last UK show for some time. Here’s just ten of the reasons why the Canadian indie-rock giants left us on a high.

The Weather

There’s few better ways to spend the hottest day of the year than in London’s Hyde Park, one of the most stunning Royal Parks in the capital. Temperatures soared to 27C whilst festival-goers topped up the tan and donned the shades. Win Butler summed it all up: ‘It’s easy to fall in love in London on a day like this’.

Wild Beasts

They might be ‘a bunch of dour northerners making gay art music‘ but Kendal’s finest indie-rock export were far from dour in the beating afternoon sun. Challenging Future Islands to a dance off, frontman Hayden Thorpe and guitarist Tom Fleming were looking good on their feet as they channeled the rich synth-pop majesty of their latest album Present Tense.

Wild Beasts in the summer sun (Picture: Getty Images)

The Pope

His Holiness has never looked so good on his feet as he made his way in papier-mache form on stage and joined a dance along to Sympathy For The Devil by The Rolling Stones.

Owen Pallett

The force behind Arcade Fire’s string section, Pallett played a very intimate 30 minute set under a packed-to-the-rafters Barclaycard Theatre venue, joined by a couple of special Reflektor guests.

In the endless, sprawling setting of central London, Hyde Park felt like a little idyllic piece of eden – remote from the rest of the world, as Régine Chassagne took centre stage for Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains). The effortlessly catchy electro-rock number from The Suburbs found the crowd in fine voice, especially when they ‘cut the lights’.

Discount Tickets

Late last week a link for friends and family of British Summer Time employees leaked online, giving rise to thousands of hopeful fans picking up tickets to Arcade Fire for just £2.50. Organisers AEG Live decided, as a gesture of goodwill, to honour all purchases, and looking at the full house last night the goodwill went some way in creating the feel good atmosphere, and possibly bar queues.

Cuban Fever

A flavour of Habana Vieja, all recreated in sight of the British Summer Time main stage. The carnival area was alive with carnival samba dancing and hordes of people enjoying Mojitos and Cuba Libres, surrounded with the spirit of Hispania, South America and the Caribbean.

Will there be an Afterlife for the Reflektors? (Picture: Getty Images)

The Heads

Could we be saying goodbye to The Reflektors and their paper-mache heads? Emerging for the faux-opener, they said: ‘For perhaps the last time, we’re Arcade Fire’.

Wake Up

After Win Butler took a swipe at Park Lane residents and their demand for noise restrictions, joking about not waking ‘the rich people up’, it felt appropriate his band would wake up half of London with their finale. The huge, rousing chorus to Wake Up came bellowing around Hyde Park with the closing notes of a faultless festival set.

Regine Chassagne of Arcade Fire at British Summer Time Festival (Picture: Getty Images)

Confetti Cannons

From people in mirror suits to dancers in drag, Arcade Fire know how to throw the party of the summer. The surprise feature to top them all though was the confetti cannons, which transformed Hyde Park at the end of the set. Because everyone likes confetti, right?

British Summer Time 2014 continues this weekend with performances from Black Sabbath, The Libertines and McBusted. For more information visit the official website.